The Bluecoat is Liverpool's centre for the arts. It is housed in the city centre's oldest building and the oldest combined arts venue of its kind in the UK. The Bluecoat presents a year-round programme of contemporary visual art, live art, music, dance and literature. Following a multi-award winning £14.5m redevelopment, the Bluecoat reopened in early 2008 to build on its reputation for presenting emerging local, national and international talent alongside established artists. The Bluecoat is also home to a community of artists and creative industry businesses who inhabit its studios and office spaces as well as creative retailers with outlets in the courtyard and garden, making this iconic building a vibrant living creative hub.